Most Popular Books by Richard Holmes

Richard Holmes''s Coleridge: Early Visions won the 1989 Whitbread Book of the Year Prize. Coleridge: Darker Reflections, the long-awaited second volume, chronicles the last thirty years of his career (1804-1834), a period of domestic and professional turmoil. His marriage foundered, his opium addiction increased, he quarreled bitterly with Wordsworth, and his son, Hartley (a gifted poet himself), became an alcoholic. But after a desperate time of transition, Coleridge reemerged as a new kind of philosophical and meditative author, a great and daring poet, and a lecturer of genius. Holmes traces the development of Coleridge into a legend among the younger generation of Romantic writers--the "hooded eagle amongst blinking owls"--and the influence he had on Hazlitt, De Quincey, Byron, Shelley, Keats, Walter Scott, Carlyle, and J. S. Mill, among others. And he rediscovers Coleridge''s power as a conversationalist and a ceaseless generator of ideas. As Charles Lamb noted, "his face when he repeats his verses hath its ancient glory, an Archangel a little damaged." Although Coleridge''s later life was not a happy one, it is continually fascinating. As Holmes brings it vividly to life in these pages, we feel his hopeless heartaches, his moments of elation, his electrifying creativity and boundless energy, his unfailing ability to rescue himself from the darkest abyss. The result is a brilliantly animated, superbly detailed, wondrously provocative portrait of an extraordinary artist and an even more extraordinary human being.

It was along the Western Front, the trench line stretching from the North Sea to the Swiss border, that most of nine million soldiers from the United Kingdom and British Empire who enlisted during World War I served, and where most of the 947,000 who were killed met their deaths. Linked to a BBC2 television series, this book follows the story of the Western Front in a format which is both chronological and thematic, whilst also focusing on particular episodes to highlight more general topics.

With this collection of short and fascinating biographical pieces, the award-winning biographer of Coleridge and Shelley offers a fascinating glimpse into the mysterious art of biography. When researching, Richard Holmes has often become captivated by figures peripheral to his main subject, literary forays that he couldn’t resist. These tales–the forbidden love of John Stuart Mill, the bizarre novel of Oscar Wilde’ s tragic grand-uncle, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald’s nightmarish yet cathartic final trip to Paris–are part of what comprises Sidetracks, a marvelously original that includes letters and travelogues, radio plays, essays, and minature biographies. This book is a rare literary feast and an exploration of the creative processes of one of our most preeminent biographers. BONUS MATERIAL: This ebook edition includes an excerpt from Richard Holmes''s Falling Upwards.

The ultimate record of arms and armour through the ages – in a new compact edition An epic 4,000-year illustrated story of weaponry. From stone axes to heavy machine-guns, swords to sniper rifles, discover the innovative design, range, lethal function and brutal history of arms and armour, and meet the warriors who wielded them.Includes all the important arms through the ages, covering edged weapons, clubs, projectiles and firearms. From ancient Egyptian axes, through traditional bows and spears of Africa, Oceania and the Americas, to the machine-guns and missiles of modern infantry. Key weapons from every era are presented in sharp detail and the mechanisms that operate them are displayed and explained.Top fighting forces, from the Greek hoplite to the Navy Seal are profiled, revealing the weapons they have wielded and the tactics and fighting methods they’ve used.

In 1719, sixteen families left Ireland for America and founded a community called Nutfield, which evolved into modern Derry. For centuries, Derry retained its small-town character, but the 1963 opening of Interstate 93 changed the town forever. Within a decade, its population doubled. Derry is now the states most populous town. This charming collection of over two hundred photographs presents Derry in its quieter years, when trolleys crisscrossed the town, most of the men worked in shoe factories, and traffic on Broadway stopped each morning as the Hood cows crossed to their pasture. For many older residents, these images will bring back a flood of memories. Newcomers will better understand the traditions that helped shape the town. Derry Revisited evokes a sense of expanded pride in the heritage of Derry.

Stunning collections of photographs from the front-lines, beautifully presented in large format paperback

SCOTT (copy 1): Missing title page.

Groundbreaking and critically-acclaimed, Tommy is the first history of World War I to place the British soldier who fought in the trenches centre-stage.

Interest in the greatest military conflict of all time has never been stronger. Written by leading military historian Richard Holmes, the book presents the photographs in year-by-year chapters, covering every theatre of operations. Dramatic, hard hitting and intensely moving, this is a unique visual testament to the millions of men and women who lost their lives in the war, and a reminder to today''s generations of both the heroism and horror of global conflict.

"This is the room from which I will direct the war," Churchill declared upon seeing the dank storage basement in an improbably central location near the Houses of Parliament. The chambers would become his base of operations during the heaviest enemy bombardment of London. In Churchill''s Bunker, distinguished Churchill biographer Richard Holmes provides the first comprehensive history of the Cabinet War Rooms, from which Churchill managed to turn a seemingly inevitable defeat at the hands of the Nazis into a victory for the free world. Here was the Map Room that charted the advances and retreats of armies, the locations of warships, and the often painful progress of the convoys that kept the nation supplied with munitions. Here the planners worked on future operations and the intelligence staff pondered the enemy''s next moves. And remarkably, all of this highly charged work was known only to those who needed to know. Drawing on a wealth of original material, including new firsthand accounts of the people who lived and worked there, Holmes reveals how and why the bunker and its war machine developed, how life was conducted in a realm where "only the clock told whether it was night or day and . . . an electric bell gave warning of an air-raid," and how Churchill interacted with his staff in very close quarters. A unique exploration of the calculus of secrecy during the Second World War, Churchill''s Bunker provides an intimate portrait of Churchill and his closest advisors in one of the most fascinating and underexplored venues of twentieth-century history.

Since 1660 the army has evolved and adapted, but the social organisation of the men has changed less, with the major combat arms retaining many of the characteristics familiar to those who fought at Blenheim, Waterloo and the Somme. The Duke of Marlborough, who built up the British army to become a world-class fighting force in the 1660s, would recognise in the tired heroes of Helmand the descendants of the men he led to victory at Blenheim over three hundred years ago.SOLDIERS is exhaustively researched, and Holmes''s affection for the soldier shines through on every page. Above all, this book is brimming with great stories, from the chaos of the battlefield to the fug of the barrack-room, from Ulster to Bengal, from Flanders'' fields to the Afghan hills. This is a magisterial social history of the British soldier - and Richard Holmes''s fitting last tribute to the British soldier, to whom he was so devoted.

The world-famous battles covered in this book span the course of modern military history, from the battle of Yorktown and the siege of Vicksburg, to the tank battles fought at El Alamein, Kursk and in the Ardennes.